by Dayna Quince
He tipped her back and she fell back onto the bed. He followed her, his body covering hers and molding to hers. It was a maelstrom of emotion and sensation, a strong need for the press of his weight and the urge to get even closer. His hands roamed her body and she did the same. Her small hands greedily touched his back, marveling at the sinewy muscle that moved and flexed under her fingers. She slipped her hands under his collar and felt the glorious warmth of his skin. She wanted more—she needed more.
“Olivia, wait,” he stopped.
She wanted to groan in frustration.
“We can’t do this here, not right now.”
“But why?” She tried to curb the petulant whine in her voice.
“You deserve more than a tupping in a cabin on a ship. We should be in our marriage bed.”
Olivia thought about that. She’d never heard the word tupping. It did sound distasteful, but nothing they shared between them could ever be distasteful, not to her. “I don’t see it that way.”
“Perhaps not right now, but years from now you might.” He brushed unruly curls from her face.
“Don’t you want to marry me?”
“More than my next breath,” he said.
“Then make me undeniably yours, right now, in this cabin. This cabin is you, the real you. In our hearts, we are already married. There is no if, there is no but. It’s just us. We found that here in this cabin, and that means this place will always be special. There isn’t a better place than where we are right now.”
He swallowed, his expression betraying his shock. “You’re right.”
“I am?” she said with surprise.
“I’ve spent hours awake longing for her in this very bed, paced the boards of this ship with you on my mind countless times,” he said. “Here is where I feel most at home, even when sailing foreign oceans.”
Colton said nothing as he pulled away from her and stood. He turned to the door, locked it, and then returned to stand at the foot of the bed. He slowly began to pull up his shirt as she watched, her frown of confusion melting into a look of absorption. He removed his shirt and crawled over her as she lay back until he was on all fours over her, watching her intently.
Olivia tried her hardest to remain calm. She had never before seen him without a shirt, or any man for that matter, and was having trouble drawing breath. His skin was bronzed, his chest sparsely dusted with golden hair. It was difficult to take him all in, and at the same time, all she could think of was what it would feel like to press her bare chest to his. She felt her cheeks flood with warmth as well as the place between her legs. She never knew she could feel such things, but at Colton’s hands, she was learning a lot quickly.
He smiled down at her. “You can touch me, if you want.”
She smiled back. “Oh, I fully intend to.”
Colton chuckled.
She tentatively touched his chest, first with one hand and then the other. She explored him gently with soft strokes, and Colton eased down on top of her, leaving her access to take her time. As she discovered the effect of her touching his nipples and their pebbled response, he slowly pulled up her skirt.
Olivia became distracted by his hands on her legs and was eager to be as equally undressed. “Take off my dress,” she urged him.
“In due time.”
“Right now,” she moaned.
Colton sat back. “There’s no way you’re going to just lay back and let me manage the reins of your seduction, are you?”
“Absolutely not.” She sat up and began to fumble with her laces. “If I left it up to you, you’d still be throwing yourself on the sword of honor while keeping me at arm’s length.”
Colton laughed heartily. He couldn’t help it.
Olivia scowled. “Are you going to undress me or not?”
Colton sighed, helping her with the laces. She tugged her bodice down, wriggled her dress over her hips, and kicked it to the floor.
“Where are your stockings?” he asked with surprise.
“I took them off last night while you were sleeping.”
“You’ve been running around all morning without stockings?”
She nodded and smiled wickedly. “And barefoot, too.”
He groaned and pulled her to him roughly. She giggled and squirmed against him.
He grew serious and tugged at her chemise. “I’m taking this off.”
“Aye, captain,” she said cheekily.
Colton was no longer amused. Olivia pressed her body against him. He lifted the hem slowly, slipping her chemise over her head with a whisper and off the bed..
“Nothing will keep us apart now, Olivia.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “I never asked you... I’ve loved you for so long. Will you marry me, be my wife and the mother of my children?”
Olivia smiled, her heart bursting with happiness, and tears coming to her eyes. “Yes. I’ve never wanted anything else in the world as much as I want you. I love you too.”
He kissed her fiercely, taking her mouth like a conqueror, claiming his mate and possessing her thoroughly. She did the same, accepting him eagerly, and making her own demands. She pressed herself against him, parting her legs, and wrapping them around him. He hungrily kissed her and sought her softness with his hand. She was ready for him, her dewy flesh glistening with her need and aching for his touch. He touched her gently, exploring her in ways he hadn’t before. She gasped when he entered her with one finger and stilled. He broke the kiss, and she met his eyes.
He watched her eyes widen as he entered her with a second finger and slowly reached deeper, stretching her. She licked her lips and kept her eyes locked on his as he thrust in and out in a steady rhythm. Olivia closed her eyes, pressing her head back into the pillows and letting desire claim her body. He kissed her breasts, nipping and licking until her skin was pink and her nipples standing hard. He licked his way up to her earlobe and sucked. She sucked in her breath and moaned, her hips bucking with the rhythm of his hand.
“Colton,” she panted.
“This is only the beginning.” He returned to her breasts and feasted some more.
Olivia felt like her body was spinning out of control. She wanted more, wanted to do more. She didn’t want to just lay back and accept the pleasure, she wanted to participate and make him feel as wild as he made her feel. She boldly reached for his waistband, running her fingers through the trail of hair leading inside his breaches. She could feel his hardness against her thigh, and she wanted to touch him. She slid her hand down the length of him, shocked and enthralled with her exploration. Growing bolder, she squeezed his length and was rewarded with a groan as he thrust against her.
“God, Olivia, you’re going to push me over the edge.”
She smiled. That was exactly what she wanted to do. She reached for the buttons to his breeches and undid them. He obliged her by taking over the task of removing them. She watched excitedly as he stripped them from his muscular legs, her gaze catching on the evidence of his arousal. She wasn’t aware her mouth was hanging open until she tried to lick her lips. Colton returned to the bed and stretched out beside her. He adjusted them until he could pull the blanket out from under them and they were lying further up on the bed. He covered them with the blanket and pulled her close.
“Have I told you how beautiful you are today?” He nuzzled her neck.
“No.” She smiled blissfully.
“I could eat you alive. I could kiss you from the top of your curls, to these curls.” He dipped his hand between her legs, and she parted her legs eagerly. “To the tips of your toes.”
“Oh?” she said with a gasp. She wanted to do the same, and it gave her an idea.
“Colton?”
“Yes, my love.”
“Can I kiss you...like you kissed me?”
He pulled back, a brow raised in question.
She let her hand wander over his erection in answer, and he closed his eyes. He looked to be in pain. “Does it hurt?” she pulled her hand back.
> “No... It feels so good I can’t stand it. Do it again.”
She smiled naughtily and did it again. He sucked in a breath when she ran her hand down his length, and then gasped when she cupped him. Feeling powerful and bold, she pushed him onto his back and set her lips to his neck. She didn’t know how long he would let her torture him, so she wasted no time kissing her way lower, although she did pause at his nipples to lick and tease them, and then followed the trail of hair to his groin where the object of her fascination stood proudly. She took him in her hand.
“Wait. Turn sideways so I can reach you. I have to touch you.” He pulled at her hips until she was perpendicular to his body and his hand slipped between her legs.
Olivia couldn’t stop a moan when his fingers slipped inside her again. She took him in her hands again, and remembering how he had kissed and licked her most sensitive flesh, she did the same to him. She ran her tongue down the length of him, and then kissed her way to the top. Experimenting, she took him into her mouth, and he growled. She smiled and repeated the motion. He started moving beneath her, thrusting in time with the rhythm of her mouth on him and matched it with his fingers.
It was getting hard to concentrate. Her body had that building urge again, the one that made her restless and frustrated.
“Olivia,” he groaned. “I need to be inside you,” he said desperately.
Olivia reluctantly let go of him as Colton moved her beneath him. He spread her legs, tenderly parting them and moving each knee high before settling in between.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she panted. She was ready, and scared, and excited, and so many other emotions too.
She felt the head of his erection press into her, and she tried to relax. He entered her slowly, stretching her in a way she had never felt, filling her.
He stopped when he met resistance and locked eyes with her. “This may hurt.”
She nodded, too caught up in sensation to speak.
He pressed forward, careful and slow but firmly. He stopped and pulled back, sliding against her slick folds. He put a hand on the hood of her sex and played with the sensitive nubbin. Olivia relaxed, and her hips opened a little further. He continued to thrust gently, only halfway entering her and pulling out. She began to pant again and her hips moved against him in answer to his. Pulling out almost all the way, he thrust hard until he was buried inside her.
“Oh!” she cried, more reflexively than out of real pain. It hurt, but it was more of an irritated sting. She pushed past it as he continued to thrust and focused on the pleasurable friction.
Colton leaned down and caught her lips, kissing her until she was breathless and moaning and had forgotten all thought of pain. She arched, chasing the pleasure that spread through her body as the tension inside her coiled tighter.
He thrust harder, grinding his hips against the part of her that was most sensitive.
“Come on, Livie,” he begged.
Olivia answered him with a moan, gasping his name and digging her nails into his shoulders as she worked her hips against his thrusts, pushing herself to completion.
She cried out, burying her face in his neck, her nails biting into his skin. He groaned, deep and guttural, and followed her. He thrust one last time, and then collapsed on her.
Together they lay, the silence broken only by their breathing, their limbs tangled together like ivy.
Chapter 13
Olivia dozed into the afternoon. She woke when Colton kissed her and left her to see to his duties, urging her to keep sleeping. Her body felt heavy with pleasurable fatigue, her lips plump from kisses and her skin deliciously smooth against the blanket, probably because she was wickedly naked. She did wake and dress shortly after Colton left. After all, she had an unruly patient to check on. She peeked in on Devon and found him still asleep. She figured that was good, but then again, she had no experience with something of this nature to reference. She returned to the cabin and made up the bed, unable to keep a smile from her lips and a blush from her cheeks as she remembered their lovemaking. It was unbelievable, indescribable, and totally titillating to think of all they had shared not long ago. She felt as though she was walking on clouds and in danger of never coming down.
That’s when Devon woke.
She heard cursing and thumping and more cursing by the time she reached his door. Timms was approaching at the same time.
“Best to let me have a look first, m’lady.”
Olivia nodded and stepped back.
Mr. Timms entered and closed the door behind him.
“Who the bloody hell are you?”
She heard Devon yell, followed by Mr. Timms’s calmer tones. It grew quiet, and she was tempted to press her ear to the door. There was a tug on the bell, and Mr. Timms cracked the door. “You might as well return to the cabin, m’lady. Willy can help me with this uh...business”
Olivia frowned. She wanted to be of use. “Oh... Oh.” Her eyebrows shot up. She nodded and returned to the cabin. There were some things a sister did not need to help her brother with.
After a while, Willy came to the cabin to tell her that her brother had asked for her and that she could see him now. She smiled with relief and waited until everyone was gone before entering his cabin. It was dark. She stood by the door until her eyes adjusted, and she could see her brother lying prone on the bunk. She stepped forward and kneeled by his side.
“Livie?” he said, his voice sleepy.
“Yes.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Willy said you wanted to see me.” She watched him as he brought a hand to his head.
“No, I mean, what are you doing on Colton’s ship?”
“I came to help care for you. When he came to the house to tell mother and father that he was going to go get you, I decided to come along. I knew you might need caring for.”
His eyes were closed, but he scowled all the same. “You expect me to believe he let you tag along? We are not fishing by the creek, Livie. How did you come to be here alone?”
Olivia bit her lip before answering. “I hid inside your trunk.”
Silence greeted this. Then he was trying to sit up.
“What are you doing?” she said with alarm.
“Come closer so I can wrap my hands around your neck.”
“Lie down before you hurt yourself.” She shoved him back and he fell. He was so weak she had no trouble holding him down. It broke her heart. “Don’t waste your energy. Colton took me to task for my actions already.”
“I bet he did,” Devon growled.
“Now what does that mean?”
“There are serious repercussions for your stupidity, Olivia Louise Brentton, and I will see that they are met,” he scolded.
Olivia actually felt like laughing but she restrained herself. “What repercussions?”
“A wedding. Even if it means putting a gun in both your backs.”
This time Olivia did laugh. “Oh, Devon. That’s already been settled.”
“Beg pardon?”
Olivia laughed more. “Are you really so blind? Never mind, it’s obvious you are, and Colton was too, for that matter. You see, I’ve loved him for longer than I can remember, and it seems he has loved me for quite some time, although he was prepared to suffer in silence due to some foolish notions. But now it’s settled. We will be married as soon as we return.”
“How idiotic,” Devon sneered. “What do you know about love? Love is for fools, dreamers, hapless morons without a lick of sense.”
“I would agree that you have been all those things,” Olivia returned calmly. “I won’t say I told you so.”
“What do you mean?” He growled at her like a wounded animal.
“I said that you would need my help, and you didn’t listen.”
“Get out,” he snapped at her.
Olivia sighed. “Try as you might, you won’t succeed in pushing me away.” She poured him another cup of tea and pulled a chair close to h
is bunk. “I’ve poured you another cup of tea and set it here within reach. I’ll let you rest now and check on you later.”
He didn’t say anything more, so she left. She returned to the cabin that was still very much the same and entirely different.
Two days passed in a blur. The weather remained fair, but for the three charged with Devon’s care, his small cabin became a small version of hell. His mood deteriorated, as did his ability to eat and his comfort. He was in terrible pain, and they were helpless to stop it. He was so nauseous that he refused to take anything, even the tea with laudanum. They moved him to the larger cabin again, hoping that its broader space would ease his discomfort, but nothing seemed to help. Someone was with him all the time, changing sheets, helping him use the pot, and bathing the sweat from his body. Sometimes he would fight it, but mostly he weakly accepted the help and curled into a fetal position until exhaustion would claim him for a brief respite.
When evening set in on the fourth day, Olivia left his cabin and sat in the smaller cabin with her head in her hands and wept. This day had been easier, less sickness, less cleanup, and altogether less fighting from her patient. He drank a full cup of tea over three hours, and she considered it progress. He was now resting and quiet. She didn’t know how long she sat there crying, but when she finally lifted her head, it was dark in their small cabin. She turned up the lamp and splashed some water on her face. Pulling on her cloak, she went looking for Colton.
The cool wind was refreshing on her cheeks when she exited the short hall on to the main deck. The deck looked empty, and she remembered that most of the crew would be in the galley, and only one man would be about and at the helm.
“Is Captain Colton up there?” She called out to the lone man. He nodded his head, but she wasn’t sure if he had even heard her. The wind and crashing waves against the hull made it hard to hear at times. The wind changed, whipping her curls into her face, and with it, she caught the familiar scent of Colton’s cigar. She looked toward the bow of the ship and squinted her eyes. She thought she saw the silhouette of a man against the evening sky, but it could have been her imagination. Then she saw the glow from the tip of his cigar. She smiled, and her heart smiled too. She hurried to his side, anxious for a moment to be alone with him.